A refrigerator is capable of keeping stored goods fresh for a long time by maintaining a storage space at a constant temperature. In addition to such a function of keeping the stored goods, a variety of functions are added to the refrigerator.
One of them is to mount a communication pad to a front surface of a refrigerator door. The communication pad makes it possible for the refrigerator to communicate with a user or external devices through the Internet. As an example of such a communication pad, there is a tabulate computer. An LCD panel with a touch screen function may be used.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional refrigerator with a communication pad. According to the prior art, a main body 10 in which storage spaces are formed is mounted with doors 11 and 13 for opening and closing the storage spaces, respectively. The doors 11 and 13 are supported by hinges h and h′ as centers of rotation at upper and lower portions of both side ends of a front surface of the main body 10, thus opening and closing the storage spaces. Reference numerals 11′ and 13′ designate door handles. The doors 11 and 13 operate so that portions thereof in which the door handles 11′ and 13′ are mounted come into close contact with or get separated from the front surface of the main body 10 with the hinges h and h′ as the center.
Next, a front surface of the door 11 is provided with a dispenser 15 for taking out and using water or ice from the storage space without opening the door 11. A front surface of the door 13 is provided with a communication pad 17. The communication pad 17 can communicate with a controller 19 provided on an upper surface of the main body 10.
In the meantime, FIG. 2 shows a conventional communication pad mounting structure. According to the prior art, a seating space 14 is concavely formed in a portion of the front surface of the door 13. The seating space 14 is formed with its front face opened to the front of the door 13. A pair of through-holes 14a are formed in a bottom surface of the seating space 14.
A clamp 20 and a holder 30 are provided on upper and lower ends of the seating space 14 in order to fix the communication pad 17 into the seating space 14, respectively. The clamp 20 is formed to enclose a portion of an upper front surface, an upper surface and a portion of a rear surface of the communication pad 17 and is formed with a laterally extending insertion groove 21. An upper end of the communication pad 17 is seated into the insertion groove 21. A catching portion 23 is defined by the front end of the clamp 20 and supports the upper end of the front surface of the communication pad 17.
The clamp 20 is installed in the seating space 14 to be rotatable about a hinge shaft 25 by a predetermined angle. The clamp 20 is subjected to an elastic force from a torsion spring 29 installed around the hinge shaft 25. The torsion spring 29 prevents the clamp 20 to rotate inadvertently, and thus keeps the communication pad 17 seated in the seating space 14. Here, the torsion spring 29 exerts the elastic force onto the clamp 20 counterclockwise with respect to the figure.
The holder 30 is formed to enclose a portion of a lower front surface, a lower surface and a portion of the rear surface of the communication pad 17 and is formed with a laterally extending insertion groove 31. A lower end of the communication pad 17 is seated into the insertion groove 31.
Insertion legs 33, which pass through the through-holes 14a and are positioned in a lower portion of the seating space 14, are provided in a bottom surface of the holder 30. Each insertion leg 33 is formed so that a front to rear width thereof is relatively smaller than that of the through-hole 14a. Thus, the holder 30 may rotate in and out of the seating space 14 by a predetermined angle about the portions of the holder 30 that pass through the through-holes 14a. A distal end of the insertion leg 33 is formed to have a front to rear width which is relatively larger than that of the through-hole 14a. It is for the purpose of preventing the insertion legs 33 from removing through the through-holes 14a inadvertently.
A connector 37 is provided on the center of the bottom surface of the seating space 14. The connector 37 protrudes substantially vertically upward from the bottom surface of the seating space 14, and is positioned in the insertion groove 31 through an opening 34 formed in the bottom surface of the holder 30. A connector 39 to be engaged with the connector 37 is provided on the lower surface of the communication pad 17. The connector 39 is designed not to protrude from the lower surface of the communication pad 17.
Here, a process of mounting the communication pad 17 in the seating space 14 will be described. First, an upper end of the holder 30 rotates to slantingly protrude out of the seating space 14, and the lower end of the communication pad 17 is seated into the insertion groove 31 of the holder 30.
Then, by rotating the clamp 20 about the hinge pin 25 for a portion of the clamp 20 to protrude out of the seating space 14, the upper end of the communication pad 17 is positioned in the insertion groove 21. Of course, the communication pad 17 is still in a state where its upper end protrudes to the front face of the seating space 14 further than its lower end. In such a state, when the upper end of the communication pad 17 is pushed into the seating space 14, the communication pad 17 enters the seating space 14, and the clamp 20 also enters the seating space 14 by a restoring force of the torsion spring 29. Of course, at this time, the connector 39 of the communication pad 17 is inserted into the connector 37, thus electrically connecting them to each other.
However, the aforementioned conventional refrigerator has the following problems.
First, in order to mount the communication pad 17 into the seating space 14, while operating the clamp 20 by one hand, gripping the communication pad 17 by the other hand and keeping it seated in the insertion groove 31 of the holder 30, a user should push the communication pad 17 into the seating space 14. Thus, there is a problem in that it is cumbersome and difficult to insert the communication pad 17 into the seating space 14.
In general, one of the doors 11 and 13 is mounted with the dispenser 15, and the other one thereof is provided with a home-bar door for opening and closing a home-bar. However, there is a design problem in that any one of the dispenser 15 and the home-bar cannot be applied to the refrigerator in order to install the communication pad 17.
In the conventional refrigerator, the communication pad 17 is supported in the mounting seating 14 only by the elastic force of the torsion spring 29. Therefore, there is a problem in that the communication pad 17 is removed from the mounting seating 14 when an impact is applied to the door 13 as large as the elastic force of the torsion spring 29 is overcome.
It is possible to dismount the communication pad 17 from the door 13. Therefore, with the communication pad 17 separated from the door 13, it may occur that the communication pad 17 is lost. Particularly, if the communication pad 17 is at a place in which it is not in sight, it is very difficult to find it.
In the meantime, when the communication pad 17 is dismounted from the mounting seating 14, the connector 37 is in an exposed state. Particularly, since the connector 37 is exposed upward from the bottom surface of the seating space 14, there is a problem in that the connector 37 is electrically affected in a wet kitchen environment.